Green on paper, grey in practice

The European Union has set itself ambitious goals with the Green Deal: A central instrument for achieving these goals is the EU Taxonomy, a classification system for sustainable economic activities. From 2025, the regulation will apply comprehensively to all companies covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), bringing it even more into the focus of the financial and real economy. However, the implementation is complex. Different methodological approaches, incomplete data and ongoing adjustments due to FAQs and legislative changes make it difficult to report consistently and comparably. At the same time, the central challenge remains: the taxonomy is not only intended to create regulatory transparency, but also to steer capital flows into sustainable activities and thus support the transformation of the economy. Against this background, the current PwC study on the EU Taxonomy 2025 analyzes the reports of financial institutions across Europe and shows key developments, progress and stumbling blocks. It illustrates where regulation is already having an effect and where there is still a need for improvement so that the taxonomy achieves its actual goal.